Take a look at the incredible hidden cameras the Stasi used to spy on people
posted Thursday, September 19, 2013 at 12:10 PM EST
For decades, the infamous Stasi kept East Germany in a state of permanent paranoia, due to its immense network of informants and agents, constantly keeping tabs on the populace. At the Stasi Museum in Berlin, you can get a look at the astonishing array of hidden and secret cameras the Stasi used to spy on citizens of the German Democratic Republic. But, if Berlin isn't on your travel plans any time soon, Egor Egorov has put together an incredible look at some of the gear.
Egorov's post on LiveJournal is a series of photographs from the museum, paying particular attention to the hidden cameras. What's astonishing is the incredible array of different hidden cameras the Stasi used. Things like buttonhole or tie cameras aren't particularly surprising, but cameras hidden inside wallets; infrared flashes; custom built cameras; modified commercial cameras; and even a car shooting system designed by Carl Zeiss Jena, which had a revolutionary laser rangefinder autofocus capable of focusing in total darkness.
The Stasi hid the cameras in just about every object imaginable: stereos, fuel cans, watering cans, felled trees, oil drums, and every possible configuration of briefcase or handbag.
While you can buy "spycams" easily, your normal little videocamera disguised to look like a pen has nothing on the incredible artifice that went into these hidden recording devices.
(via Metafilter)
